Department for Education

Special Educational Needs: Autism

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support young people with autism spectrum conditions who have education otherwise than at school plans.

David Johnston: Local authorities provide support to certain children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) through Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans. A local authority may choose, where statutory criteria are met, to make an ‘Education Otherwise than in School’ arrangement, whereby the child or young person with the EHC plan receives special educational support outside of a school or college. The department are taking steps to improve the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system. There are measures in place for the department to support and challenge local authorities to improve their practice. Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission commenced a strengthened local inspection framework in January 2023. Where local authorities are failing, the department works with them, using a range of improvement programmes and SEND specialist advisers to address weaknesses. Inspections under this new framework will place greater emphasis on the outcomes that are being achieved for children and young people with SEND, including those who are autistic. More generally, as part of the department’s support for autistic young people, the department worked closely with the Department of Health and Social Care to develop a refreshed cross-government Autism Strategy. This was published in July 2021 and includes children and young people. The strategy recognised the progress that has been made, as well as the challenges and priorities for reducing inequalities, and enabling autistic people of all ages to have the same opportunities as everyone else to lead healthy, happy and fulfilling lives. The national strategy sets out the department’s vision to make life fundamentally better for autistic people, their families and carers by 2026.

Youth Endowment Fund

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the oral answer of 29 April 2024 by the Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing to Question 902545, Official Report, columns 32-33, if she will publish an update on the Youth Endowment Fund's schools-based work to reduce children's involvement in crime following the Minister's meeting with the Director of that Fund on 30 April 2024.

David Johnston: Engagement in education provides an important opportunity to identify and support children and young people at risk of serious violence. Through the department’s Support, Attend, Fulfil, Exceed (SAFE) Taskforce and Alternative Provision Specialist Taskforce (APST) programmes, the department is investing over £50 million to fund specialist support in mainstream schools and alternative provisions in the areas where serious violence is most prevalent. The SAFE taskforce programmes are underpinned by evidence-based approaches to tackling serious violence, including utilising the Youth Endowment Fund’s (YEF) Toolkit for how to put these approaches into action. The department continues to work closely with YEF as they build up their evidence base for 'what works' in preventing serious violence, and as they fund the evaluations of the department's taskforce programmes. Updates to the YEF’s school-based work can be found on their website.

Childcare and Pre-school Education: Staff

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to count the number of staff working in the early years and childcare sector.

David Johnston: The department collects information on the overall size of the workforce through its regular Survey of Childcare and Early Years Providers, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-and-early-years-providers-survey-2023. The latest data from this survey was published in December 2023 and showed the number of paid staff working in the early years sector had increased by 13,000 in 2023 alone.

Special Educational Needs: York

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she plans to take to ensure the safety valve programme supports SEND services in York.

David Johnston: The Safety Valve programme is designed to improve special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) services by making the very best use of resources to deliver the support that children and young people need. The agreements, based on proposals put forward by each local authority, hold local authorities to account for doing so in the most effective and sustainable way for the benefit of children and young people. The last few years have shown that increased spend does not automatically equate to better outcomes for children and young people; running systems more effectively does. Safety Valve plans generally place emphasis on improving the availability of support in and to mainstream schools, including increasing early access to support, building parental confidence in the system and increasing the availability of local provision. It is only through taking these steps and through the genuine collaboration of all partners locally that high needs systems can be delivered effectively and sustainably for the future. City of York Council made a Safety Valve agreement in 2021, with the department contributing £17.1 million. The authority agreed to reform their high needs system such that they would subsequently reach a positive in-year balance on its Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) and eliminate its cumulative deficit by the end of the agreement in 2025/26, while continuing to deliver for children and young people with SEND. City of York Council is on track to meet the deficit reduction targets set out in the agreement both for the current reporting year and the lifetime of the plan. The department continues to provide City of York Council with support through the Safety Valve programme via regular contact with department officials, SEND advisors and financial advisors.

Foster Care

Peter Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to review current practices for commissioning of foster care services.

David Johnston: The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recommended that the government introduces a network of Regional Care Cooperatives (RCCs) to plan, commission and deliver children’s social care placements in fostering, children’s homes and secure homes on a regional basis. The department has committed to trialling this approach with two RCC pathfinders to build an evidence base before future rollout. The department’s long-term vision is that RCCs will help improve commissioning and sufficiency, and better enable local authorities to meet the needs of the children in their care, whilst reforming foster parent recruitment and retention. In addition, the department is investing £36 million to deliver a fostering and retention programme so foster care is available for more children who need it. This will boost approvals of foster carers, as well as taking steps to retain existing foster carers. Darlington local authority, as part of the North East pathfinder, were one of the first local authorities to take part in this programme.

Childcare: Staff

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the impact of her policies on the childcare workforce.

David Johnston: In accordance with standard practice, new policies which have been introduced to support the early years workforce will be evaluated to understand their impact and effectiveness. This includes the recently announced national recruitment campaign and early years financial incentives pilot, details of which can be found at: https://earlyyearscareers.campaign.gov.uk/. The department is also regularly engaging with both local authorities and early years providers from across the country to better understand the impact of workforce policies on the early years workforce in their local areas. Additionally, the department collects information on the childcare workforce through the Survey of Childcare and Early Years Providers which showed 13,000 more people working in the sector in 2023 alone. The survey can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-and-early-years-providers-survey-2023.

Special Educational Needs: Unpaid Work

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 12 July 2023 to Question 192929 on Special Educational Needs: Unpaid Work, how many supported internships have been given to young people with an education, health and care plan in (a) 2022, (b) 2023 and (c) 2024.

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 12 July 2023 to Question 192929 on Special Educational Needs: Unpaid Work, which local authorities have received training from DFN Project Search on developing their local supported internship offer.

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 12 July 2023 to Question 192929 on Special Educational Needs: Unpaid Work, how many and what proportion of supported internships have been given to young people without an education, health and care plan under the pilot announced in the Spring Budget 2023.

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 12 July 2023 to Question 192929 on Special Educational Needs: Unpaid Work, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the pilot extending supported internships to young people without an education, health and care plan.

David Johnston: Supported internships are a work study programme for young people aged 16 to 24 who have an Education Health and Care (EHC) plan, want to move into employment and need extra support to do so. In 2022, the department invested around £18 million until March 2025 to build capacity in the supported internship programme and double the number of supported internships to 4,500 by March 2025. In 2022, the SEN2 data collection recorded 2,477 supported internship starts. In 2023, SEN2 recorded 1,526 supported internship starts. However, this was following a change in the data collection to gather individual learner level, rather than aggregated returns, for each local authority. As with any new data collection, there were some quality issues and limitations to the data received, which the department is working with local authorities to address. The SEN2 data collection for 2024 will be published in June. The charity, DFN Project Search, are contracted as part of the Internships Work consortium to deliver local authority special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) Employment Forum training to any local authorities who wish to take up the offer to help them develop their supported internship programmes. DFN Project Search have delivered training to 134 out of 153 local authorities. Moving into the final year of the contract, DFN Project Search will target the remaining local authorities and additional training will remain open to any local authorities that request it. In the Spring Budget 2023, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the supported internship pilot which extends the programme to young people with learning difficulties and disabilities (LDD) without EHC plans until March 2025. The pilot is being rolled out in 12 local authorities with a strong, existing supported internship offer in a mix of urban and rural areas. Delivery began in September 2023. Through the pilot, the department is hoping to support around 250 young people aged 16 to 24, who have complex SEND and LDD but who do not have an EHC plan, to develop the skills and experience needed to move into sustained, paid employment. As the delivery is still in its early stages, the department has not yet formally assessed the effectiveness of the pilot. The pilot will be evaluated to inform future policy planning on supported internships. Participating local authorities, employers, providers and interns are engaging with the evaluation partner, CooperGibson Research, who aim to publish their report in the summer of 2026. Early feedback from local authorities that are delivering the pilot shows that interns have been enrolled on positive and stretching work placements.

Childcare

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how the (a) number and (b) percentage of (i) private, (ii) voluntary and (iii) independent childcare providers has changed since March 2023.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the likely proportionate change in childcare providers that are (a) private, (b) voluntary and (c) independent providers by September (i) 2024 and (ii) 2025.

David Johnston: The number of private, voluntary and independent providers that are registered on the Early Years Register as of 31 March 2023 was 22,691. The latest available data for December 2023 shows that the number of private, voluntary and independent providers that are registered on the Early Years Register was 22,490, which is 201 less than in March 2023, and a percentage change of 0.9%. The department has not made a forecast estimation of the likely proportionate change in providers by September 2024 or September 2025. It is important to note however that this is not an accurate measure of capacity in the sector. The latest Childcare and Early Years Provider Survey (2023) shows that the number of Early Years places has increased by 40,000 in 2023 compared with 2018. At the same time, the total population of 0 to 5 year olds has declined by 1% per year every year from 2018 to 2022, according to the latest available Office for National Statistics data.

Ministry of Justice

Wandsworth Prison: Prisoners' Transfers

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prisoners at HMP Wandsworth are awaiting dispersal to another category of prison following an assessment.

Edward Argar: HMP Wandsworth’s main function is to hold unsentenced prisoners while their cases progress through the courts. Once prisoners are sentenced, they are categorised and can then be transferred to a prison with an appropriate security category if required. On 02 May 2024, there were 313 prisoners at Wandsworth who had been categorised as B, C or D, 20% of Wandsworth’s total population. The number of these who are currently awaiting transfer is not centrally collated, as some will be due for release from Wandsworth itself and some will be currently unable to transfer for other reasons such as completing programmes or medical conditions.There are complex and wide-ranging issues involved in transferring and locating prisoners, and allocation decisions must reflect both the specific needs and circumstances of the prisoner, including their security assessment, as well as the operating environment and range of services at the receiving prison. How these considerations apply in individual cases is not recorded in centrally collated data.

Wandsworth Prison: Sentencing

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prisoners at HMP Wandsworth who have been sentenced are awaiting prison category assessment.

Edward Argar: As of Monday 29 April 2024, 54 prisoners at HMP Wandsworth who had been sentenced were awaiting prison category assessment. This represents 3.6 per cent of the prison’s total population and 15.9 per cent of sentenced offenders at the prison.Categorisation reviews ensure that, throughout their sentences, prisoners are assigned to the security category most appropriate for managing their risk. An initial security category assessment is conducted within 10 working days of sentencing, to facilitate transfer to an appropriate prison.

Wandsworth Prison: Reoffenders

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prisoners at HMP Wandsworth have been recalled to custody while on release on temporary licence.

Edward Argar: We are unable to answer the question about the number of prisoners at HMP Wandsworth that were recalled to custody while on release on temporary licence (ROTL). HMP Wandsworth is a category B, closed prison. There is no expectation that closed prisons deliver ROTL even though some of the population are eligible. Information on which prisoners were recalled to other prisons before moving to HMP Wandsworth is not held centrally. To obtain the data would involve a manual interrogation of prison records which would result in a disproportionate cost to the department.ROTL from open prisons is preferred as open prisons are set up and have been resourced to deliver ROTL, with the right staff, processes, layout, and general population (i.e., everyone is eligible), and there is an expectation that they deliver ROTL.Offenders released on temporary licence are subject to strict conditions and risk assessment. Any breaches can result in more time behind bars. By providing opportunities to work, learn and build family ties, temporary release from prison reduces the chances of reoffending. Evidence shows the vast majority abide by their temporary release conditions, with a compliance rate of over 99%.

Wandsworth Prison: Sentencing

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prisoners at HMP Wandsworth who have been convicted are awaiting sentencing.

Edward Argar: As of 31 March 2024, there were 139 prisoners at HMP Wandsworth who have been convicted and are awaiting sentencing. The proportion of HMP Wandsworth prisoners who have been convicted and are awaiting sentencing as of 31 March 2024 was 18.8% of the convicted population. These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large-scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Prisons: Wales

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce the number of drug-related deaths in prisons in Wales.

Edward Argar: We have a zero-tolerance approach to drugs in all our prisons.We have an ambitious 10-year Drug Strategy, which sets out our cross-government plan to address illegal drug use. It is underpinned by a record level of additional investment, as part of which the Ministry of Justice is rolling out a range of interventions, including in prisons in Wales, to get offenders off drugs and into recovery. These include:Recruiting Drug Strategy Leads in key prisons, to coordinate a whole system approach to tackling drugs.Increasing the number of prisons with an Incentivised Substance-Free Living unit from 25 in summer 2022 to 80 now.Alongside the physical deterrents, prisons in Wales have a drug and alcohol intervention service which aims to address the causes of drug and alcohol-related usage and reduce the risk of harm. This is achieved through various means including opiate replacement treatments, psychosocial groups, and counselling.Following the most recent deaths, HMPPS in Wales has taken further steps, including:Issuing to prisoners leaflets and information from Public Health partners on the increased dangers of current strains of synthetic opioids.Further control measures on prisoners suspected of moving drugs within the prison.Reviewing recent overdoses that did not cause deaths, as well as trends in the issuing of Naloxone.

Wandsworth Prison: Remand in Custody

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prisoners at HMP Wandsworth are on remand awaiting trial; and what is the average length of time such prisoners have been on remand.

Edward Argar: As of 31 March 2024, there were 785 prisoners at HMP Wandsworth on remand awaiting trial, 51.1% of its total population. These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large-scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.Information relating to the time spent on custodial remand is not centrally held by the Ministry of Justice. To obtain the data to answer this part of the question would involve a manual interrogation of court records which would result in a disproportionate cost to the department.

Prisons: Offensive Weapons

Dame Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish a breakdown by weapons type of weapons incidents in prisons since 2015.

Edward Argar: The number of incidents of assaults involving weapons, broken down by weapon type, can be found in table 3.10 of the following link (taken from the published ‘Safety in Custody statistics quarterly update to December 2023’): https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6626542a1cbbb3400ba7e524/safety-in-custody-assaults-dec-23.xlsx.

Prison Officers: Wales

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison (a) officers and (b) other staff have been (i) investigated and (ii) dismissed in relation to (a) the conveyance of drugs and (b) conducting inappropriate relationships with prisoners in Wales in each year since 2019.

Edward Argar: In each year since 2019, there have been 2 staff in Welsh prisons who were investigated or recommended for dismissal for trafficking through internal disciplinary procedures.Data relating to staff investigated or recommended for dismissal for having an inappropriate relationship with prisoners/ex-prisoners is held and is provided in table 1 below. The annual HMPPS staff equalities report covers staffing information, including investigations and conduct & disciplinary action, and the latest publication covers data up to 31 March 2023. This data does not include criminal investigations of prison officers or staff by law enforcement.Table 1: HMPPS staff in Public Sector Prisons1 in Wales who were (i) investigated2 and (ii) recommended for dismissal3,4 for having an inappropriate relationship with a prisoner/ex-prisoner5, in each financial year from 2018/19 to 2022/236(p)Financial yearBand 3-5 prison officers7All other prison staffHeadcount of staff investigatedHeadcount of staff recommended for dismissalHeadcount of staff investigatedHeadcount of staff recommended for dismissal2018/19~~~~2019/20~~~~2020/21~~~~2021/22~~~~2022/236~~~Notes1. Excludes any privately managed prisons.2. Figures relate to formal investigations with an outcome recorded in the year. Staff subject to at least one investigation that was concluded during the year.3. Conduct and discipline cases are defined as where a penalty has been imposed on a member of HMPPS staff for a reason of conduct. Staff with at least one conduct and discipline case concluded during the year.4. A dismissal case is defined as where at least one of the charges relating to an individual is recommended for dismissal. Information on the outcomes of any appeal is not included.5. Allegations which meet a criminal threshold will be referred to the Police for investigation. If a criminal justice outcome is secured, this will result in a summary dismissal as per PSI 10/2016 Conduct and Discipline and will not be recorded against a specific ‘type’ of misconduct in the Conduct and Discipline data. 6. Financial year runs from 01 April to 31 March. Latest published data on Investigations is up to 31 March 2023. 7. Band 3-5 Officers includes Band 3-4 / Prison Officers (incl specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officers, and Band 5 / Custodial Managers.~ denotes suppressed values of 2 or fewer or other values which would allow values of 2 or fewer to be derived by subtraction. Low numbers are suppressed to prevent disclosure in accordance with the Data Protection Act, 2018.(p) Provisional data. There may be minor changes to figures in future due to additional data being recorded on the reporting system.

Prisons: Drugs and Mobile Phones

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle the illegal entry of (a) drugs and (b) communication devices into prisons by prison staff.

Edward Argar: HM Prison & Probation Service has a zero-tolerance policy of smuggling of contraband into prisons, such as drugs and mobile phones, including by staff. The vast majority of prison staff are hardworking and dedicated.We are determined to recruit the right people into our frontline positions, which is why they are subject to personnel security vetting which includes criminal record checks during the application process. Before taking up post, new recruits receive specific training to support them and ensure their resilience to corruption.The £100 million Security Investment Programme (SIP) funded Enhanced Gate Security in 42 high risk sites, meaning we have counter-measures in place to detect and disrupt any staff attempting to smuggle contraband into prisons. The routine searching of staff, use of drug sniffer dogs and metal detectors acts as a deterrent against conveyance. SIP also funded mobile phone blocking and detection capabilities and drug detection units.Appropriate action is taken towards the minority of staff who engage in corrupt activity. Whenever staff are suspected of wrongdoing, HMPPS’ Counter-Corruption Unit pursues disciplinary action or criminal convictions, working closely with the police.We have recruited over 100 new staff into HMPPS’ Counter-Corruption Unit, which proactively detects, disrupts, and deters activities of those suspected of wrongdoing and supports prisons and probation services with specialist staff working alongside the police to support their investigations. Regional Prevent teams are dedicated to building staff resilience to corruption through training, awareness-raising and individual support.

Prison Officers: Body Searches

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an estimate of the proportion of prison officers who are searched upon entry to prison by an x-ray body scanner.

Edward Argar: HM Prison and Probation Service does not currently have legal permission to use X-ray body scanners on staff working in prisons. As such, no prison officers are searched by an X-ray body scanner upon entry to prison.All persons may be searched on entry to or within prisons, including prison staff. Arrangements for staff searching are set out in a prisons Local Security Strategy.The vast majority of staff are hardworking and dedicated. A minority of staff engage in corrupt activity which is often as a result of conditioning and manipulation by prisoners.Through the Government’s £100 million Security Investment Programme (SIP) we have bolstered prison security, such as physical measures to stop illicit items from entering prisons. These include extending X-ray body scanners to all closed male prisons, and installing Enhanced Gate Security at 42 high risk sites with archway metal detectors and the regular use of sniffer dogs. We have also since installed X-ray baggage scanners at 49 establishments. Additionally, through SIP investment, we have introduced mobile phone blocking and detection capabilities. We have also expanded HMPPS’ Counter Corruption Unit to effectively support the resilience of our hardworking prison officers to coercion by criminals. Furthermore, we have enhanced our partnership working through the development of a Multi-Agency Response to Serious Organised Crime.

Reoffenders: Community Orders

Dame Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders breached the terms of their community order in each of the last five years.

Edward Argar: We are investing £155 million in funding each year into the Service and recruited over 4000 new probation officers since reunification of the Probation Service in 2021 to deliver better and more consistent supervision of offenders in the community.Delivering public protection and cutting crime is not just about custody. There is persuasive evidence that suspended and community sentences are more effective than short custodial sentences in reducing reoffending and promoting rehabilitation. These sentences can include a range of robust requirements to punish the offender, protect the public and deliver rehabilitation. Electronic monitoring of curfews, exclusion zones, attendance at appointments, location monitoring and alcohol bans are all available requirements which the courts can use. To make sure that offenders are visibly and publicly making reparations for their crimes, courts can impose up to 300 hours of unpaid work.Any breach of these requirements could see them returned to court and face immediate custody.Please note that where there is a significant risk of harm to an individual or where the offender has breached an order of the court, the courts will retain full discretion to impose a sentence of immediate custody.Please see attachment for the information requested.Data sources and qualityThe figures in this table have been drawn from the Delius case management system which, as with any large-scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.Source: Offender Mangement Statistics Quarterly Bulletin: October to December 2023PQ_24376_table (xlsx, 16.5KB)

Reoffenders: Community Orders

Dame Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders who received a community sentence in each of the last five years had previously received (a) one, (b) two, (c) three, (d) four, (e) five or more community sentences.

Edward Argar: In many cases – particularly for lower-level offending – there is persuasive evidence that sentences served in the community, are more effective than short custodial sentences in reducing reoffending and rehabilitation in certain circumstances.The Department’s statistics show that 55% of those released from prison after serving a custodial sentence of less than twelve months were convicted for a proven offence in the following 12 months. This compares to 32% of those serving a sentence in the community (community order or suspended sentence order): Proven reoffending statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).The information requested is provided in the table attached. The information supplied has been sourced from a retrieval from the Police National Computer database.PQ_24375_table (xlsx, 17.0KB)

Community Orders

Dame Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have taken part in his Department's Intensive Supervision Courts pilot.

Edward Argar: In June 2023, we launched three Intensive Supervision Courts to divert offenders away from short custodial sentences and tackle the root causes of their offending, two at Liverpool and Teesside Crown Courts for offenders with substance misuse needs, and one focused on female offenders at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court. As of March 2024, 84 offenders have engaged with the Intensive Supervision Court pilot. These pilot sites are legislated to sentence for 18 months and are subject to a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation programme.

Prisons: Fires

Dame Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison cell fires there were, broken down by institution, in each year since 2015.

Edward Argar: The attached table shows the number of fire incidents in each prison in each year since 2016. Information about fire incidents before 2016 is not available, because the records, which were held locally, have been destroyed in line with our retention policy. In 2016, a new centralised national system for recording fire incidents was introduced across the prison estate.The overwhelming majority of the cell fires in prisons are classified as small and are quickly dealt with by staff. All prisons have an Arson Reduction Strategy which includes measures for managing prisoners who are known to present a risk of fire setting: these measures include strategic cell location, and control of access to ignition sources and combustible materials. In 2024-25, H M Prison & Probation Service will introduce an ignition-free Safer Vape Pen to replace the existing product, which is the source of approximately 80 per cent of fires set.All operational staff receive training in responding to fire incidents, including the use of specialist safety and firefighting equipment. Where it is found that a fire is the result of arson, or recklessness, the prisoner responsible will face robust punitive action, which can include further criminal charges.PQ_24357_table (docx, 67.6KB)

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Western Sahara: Humanitarian Situation

Ian Byrne: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what recent assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the humanitarian situation in Western Sahara.

David Rutley: The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Gaza: Orphans

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has had recent discussions with the UNHCR on children in Gaza who have been orphaned as a result of the Israel-Hamas war in the last six months.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: UN experts assess that 17,000 Palestinian children are believed to have been orphaned since October 2023. UNHCR has no mandate to act in the Occupied Palestinian Territories but the UK is supporting a number of agencies who are targeting funding to respond to the needs of these children. The UK's funding to the Red Cross Movement, and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Pooled Fund has supported their work to identify unaccompanied minors, provide care options, and in some cases reunited children with family members.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Empty Property

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what data his Department holds on the number of empty dwellings in the UK in the last 6 months.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of his Department's policies on reducing the number of empty homes in the UK.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to encourage occupation of long term empty homes.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the potential barriers to reducing the number of empty dwellings in high-demand housing areas.

Lee Rowley: As mentioned in the answer to Question UIN 23007 on 30 April 2024, the department publishes live tables on dwelling stock, which includes vacant homes here: Live tables on dwelling stock (including vacants) - GOV.UK. This data is collated from Council Taxbase data, collected by local authorities.Our published figures for empty homes in England are in live table 615 which can be found here. As for the rest of the UK, housing is a devolved matter.Local authorities already have powers to deal with empty homes.

Outdoor Advertising

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the research by Adfree cities which found that outdoor advertising is disproportionately placed in areas of existing deprivation, published in March 2024.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of including provisions within the High Streets (Designation, Review and Improvement Plan) Bill on outdoor advertising.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to restrict outdoor advertising.

Lee Rowley: Advertising has a valuable role to play in a free market society. Local councils already have the choice, through powers in the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, to refuse applications on amenity or public safety grounds.

Housing: Construction

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of design quality guidance for new build developments in the planning system.

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what powers local authorities have to prevent the building of poorly designed housing developments.

Lee Rowley: The Government is committed to ensuring the planning system creates more beautiful and sustainable buildings and places. Our national planning policy makes clear that local authorities should engage communities during the preparation of local design codes in line with the principles set out in the National Design Guide and National Model Design Code. Local councils can use this guidance to inform local policy and local guidance to define expectations for well-designed new development for their local area.Furthermore, the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023 introduces a requirement for local planning authorities to produce a design code for the whole of their area as part of the development plan, which will give design codes significant weight when planning applications are determined.

Freeports: Finance

Alyn Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the adequacy of funding arrangements for Freeports.

Alyn Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the return of investment from Freeports for (a) the UK economy, (b) the Scottish economy and (c) shareholders and private investors.

Alyn Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an estimate of the of the proportion of projected profits earned by Freeports to be received by (a) offshore investors, (b) UK companies and (c) Scottish companies.

Jacob Young: The Government has evaluated the public benefit and value for money each Freeport will deliver through the competitive process for selecting Freeport locations and subsequently through a robust business case process. Once approved, these business cases, including details of the benefits the Freeport will deliver, are published online. To ensure Freeports are delivering these returns to the UK and Scottish economies, the Government is also monitoring and evaluating their delivery; our approach is published here.This allows us to identify the impacts Freeports are already having: for example, we announced in November 2023 that Freeports have already generated £2.9 billion in investment in under two years, which will in turn create 6,000 jobs. It also enables us to monitor the suitability of the Freeports package and identify opportunities to enhance and double down on it. For example, we have recently extended the tax reliefs in Freeports from five to ten years and launched a £150 million flexible Investment Opportunity Fund to secure specific business investment opportunities.

Department of Health and Social Care

General Practitioners: Northamptonshire

Gen Kitchen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will provide additional funding for the provision of out-of-hours GP appointments in (a) Wellingborough constituency and (b) Northamptonshire.

Andrea Leadsom: Under the general practice contract, practices must provide services during core hours, from 08:00 to 18:30 on all weekdays, except bank holidays. Out of hours services are those provided outside of core hours, which practices are paid for via the Global Sum Payment. Practices can opt out of providing these services with their commissioner’s approval, and the relevant deductions will be made to the Global Sum Payments. The amount of Global Sum funding received has been uplifted every year since 2013. Where a practice has opted out of delivering out of hours services, the commissioner must commission the services from an alternative provider, for that practice’s registered patients.

Injuries: Medical Treatments

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an estimate of when single-step scaffold insertion will be available on the NHS for people with torn cartilage injuries.

Andrew Stephenson: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently consulting on draft interventional procedures guidance that recommends single-step scaffold insertion as an option for repairing symptomatic chondral knee defects, with standard arrangements in place for clinical governance, consent, and audit. The NICE currently expects to publish final guidance in September 2024. Once the NICE has published final guidance, National Health Service organisations will be expected to take it fully into account, but the guidance does not override the individual responsibility of healthcare professionals to make decisions appropriate to the circumstances of the individual patient.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Game: Birds

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish the names of the members of his Department’s expert committee that is responsible for reviewing Natural England’s advice regarding licencing applications to release non-native gamebirds.

Rebecca Pow: In 2023, Defra established an expert panel to advise on individual licence applications to release common pheasant or red legged partridge on or within 500m of Special Protection Areas for birds. The panel consisted of experts in exotic disease control and epidemiological risk from Defra and the Animal and Plant Health Agency.

Floods: Food

Samantha Dixon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the impact of flooding on food production in the last four months.

Sir Mark Spencer: We recognise that the recent period of wet weather has impacted UK agriculture. While the current market assessment is that this will impact the domestic production of certain foods, it is too early to predict the impact on overall consumer supply at this stage. However, the UK has a highly resilient food supply chain which allows us to use international trade to supplement any fluctuations in domestic food supply and maintain overall food security.

Ministry of Defence

Unmanned Air Vehicles

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many types of uncrewed aerial systems the Armed Forces operate.

James Cartlidge: The Military Aviation Authority definitions of types as listed in Regulatory Article 1600 for Remotely Piloted Air Systems are: o Open Class (less than 25 kg)o Specific Class (no weight limit)o Certified Class (no weight limit) The Armed Forces operate Uncrewed Arial Systems/Remotely Piloted Air Systems in all three of these classes.

Ministry of Defence: Rented Housing

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2024 to Question 18996 on Ministry of Defence: Rented Housing, what the total cost was of renting 6,747 unoccupied properties from Annington Homes Ltd in the latest period for which data is available.

James Cartlidge: The details of payments made to Annington Homes Ltd for the 6,747 unoccupied properties is commercially sensitive information and cannot be released.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many FV107 Scimitar vehicles are (a) in use and (b) waiting for disposal by the Army.

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) are (a) held by the armed forces and (b) awaiting disposal.

James Cartlidge: The British Army's fleet of Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) totals 114 as at May 2024, 97 of which are FV107 Scimitar platforms. As the Army's entire CVR(T) active fleet has been withdrawn from service, all 114 are currently in the disposal process.

Warrior Vehicles

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Warrior infantry fighting vehicles are (a) held by the armed forces and (b) awaiting disposal.

James Cartlidge: There are currently 632 Warrior platforms held by the Armed Forces. 80 platforms are awaiting disposal, with nine more platforms due a decision for disposal during financial year 2024-25. This is in-line with planned fleet reductions laid out within the Integrated Review 2021.

Canada: AUKUS

Mrs Pauline Latham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the extent to which Canada's critical minerals capacity is a factor in its inclusion of a potential expansion of Pillar II of the AUKUS agreement.

James Cartlidge: As the AUKUS Defence Ministers announced earlier this month, in identifying collaboration opportunities for AUKUS nations to work with other states on advanced capability projects under Pillar 2, we will take into account factors such as technological innovation, financing, industrial strengths, ability to adequately protect sensitive data and information, and impact on promoting peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

Armed Forces: Defence Equipment

Mr Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which equipment programs within (a) the Army, (b) Strategic Command, (c) the Royal Air Force and (d) the Royal Navy have been deferred as part of the latest annual budget cycle round.

James Cartlidge: The Department is reviewing its forward spending plans following the Government's announcement that defence spending will reach 2.5% of GDP in 2030.

F-35 Aircraft and Typhoon Aircraft

Mr Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) Typhoon and b) F-35 aircraft are operational.

James Cartlidge: I refer the right hon. member to the answer I gave to the right hon. member for Garston and Halewood (Maria Eagle) on 22 March 2024 to Question 7163 which was deposited in the Library of the House with Paper reference DEP2024-0348.Air Force: Military Aircraft (pdf, 206.9KB)

RM Bickleigh

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on improving service accommodation at RM Bickleigh since April 2022.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on improving service accommodation at Cambrai Barracks since April 2022.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on improving service accommodation at Vimy Barracks since April 2022.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on improving service accommodation at Piave and Bapaume Barracks since April 2022.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on improving service accommodation at Alma Barracks since April 2022.

James Cartlidge: The table below provides the totals amount spent on improving service accommodation since April 2022. SiteSingle Living Accommodation (SLA)Service Family Accommodation (SFA)TotalRM Bickleigh£842,332.32£10,857,355£11,699,687.32Cambrai Barracks£37,592.04£26,776,398£28,647,140.20Vimy Barracks£69,431.26Piave and Bapaumme Barracks£28,760.29Alma Barracks£1,734,958.61 Please note that Cambrai, Vimy, Piave, Bapaumme and Alma are all located in Catterick Garrison therefore the SFA figures provided are for all SFA in Catterick.

Military Aircraft: Helicopters

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the five Airbus H135 helicopters purchased by his Department under Project Matcha have flown operationally.

James Cartlidge: These aircraft have not been flown operationally by the UK Armed Forces.

Military Aircraft: Helicopters

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reason the five Airbus H135 helicopters purchased under Project Matcha did not enter service.

James Cartlidge: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Minister for Defence Procurement (Alex Chalk) to the right hon. Member for North Durham (Mr Kevan Jones) on 8 March 2023 to Question 157622.  Military Aircraft: Helicopters (docx, 14.9KB)

Military Aircraft: Helicopters

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 16 November 2023 to Question 1465 on Military Aircraft: Helicopters, whether the Airbus H135 helicopters purchased under Project MATCHA have been sold.

James Cartlidge: I can confirm that the Defence Equipment Sales Authority has completed a sale to the Commonwealth of Australia and their leasing partners of five surplus H135 helicopters.

Royal Citadel Plymouth: Repairs and Maintenance

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many callouts have been made to the Royal Citadel in Plymouth for maintenance issues relating to (a) roofing, (b) loss of (i) heating and (ii) hot water, (c) electrics (d) pest control and (e) damp and mould since 1 April 2022.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many callouts have been made to Catterick Garrison for maintenance issues relating to (a) roofing, (b) loss of heating and hot water, (c) electrics, (d) pest control and (e) damp and mould since April 2022.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many callouts have been made to Albermarle Barracks for maintenance issues relating to (a) roofing, (b) loss of heating and hot water, (c) electrics, (d) pest control and (e) damp and mould since April 2022.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many callouts have been made to Ypres Barracks for maintenance issues relating to (a) roofing, (b) loss of heating and hot water, (c) electrics, (d) pest control and (e) damp and mould since April 2022.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many callouts have been made to Weeton Barracks for maintenance issues relating to (a) roofing, (b) loss of heating and hot water, (c) electrics, (d) pest control and (e) damp and mould since April 2022.

James Cartlidge: The total number of callouts to Service Family Accommodation (SFA) inside the wire for Royal Citadel, Catterick Garrison, Ypres Barracks, Albermarle Barracks and Weeton Barracks for maintenance issues since April 2022 is shown within the table below. Please note we are unable to separate the SFA figures for Ypres Barracks as it is part of the wider Catterick Garrison site; LocationAmey EstateRoofingLoss of Heating & Hot WaterElectricalPest ControlD&MCatterick GarrisonCatterick4266621166255414Ypres BarracksAlbermarle BarracksNewcastle2750771125Weeton BarracksWeeton17511032327Royal Citadel - Plymouth0 SFA at Royal Citadel The total number of callouts for Royal Citadel, Catterick Garrison, Ypres Barracks, Albermarle Barracks and Weeton Barracks for maintenance issues since April 2022, excluding callouts to SFA, is shown within the table below: Location RoofingLoss Heating & Hot WaterElectricalPest ControlDamp & MouldTOTALOnly Heating Only Hot WaterBothTHE ROYAL CITADEL3456499179118346CATTERICK GARRISONAlma barracks3064584154218339Meggido Lines1165263186260317Cambrai Lines35102231143414110774Bourlon Barracks3146942155275360Richmondshire Lines551251691481030411244Marne Barracks831503331150239611179Somme Barracks23105972112212362Gaza Barracks2910211042774018580Vimy Barracks (ITC)3133993204920971681043450Catterick Town (CGIF)1021052952075815521Piave Lines7682557157140391Peronne Lines2413102712279Helles Barracks259307277221692163602780Commander and Staff Trainer (north)0210290032Ypres Barracks175224176715192ALBEMARLE BARRACKS581408661073413444WEETON BARRACKS4266182841315240 Ypres Barracks is an establishment within Catterick Garrison and is therefore contained within that section of the table. Catterick Garrison contains a number of different establishments within the site and the data for these establishments has been included in the table above.

Catterick Garrison

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service personnel are based at Somme Barracks as of 29 April 2024.

James Cartlidge: As at 1 January 2024, there were 550 UK Armed Forces Service personnel stationed at Somme Barracks.

Royal Citadel Plymouth

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on improving service accommodation at the Royal Citadel in Plymouth since 1 April 2022.

James Cartlidge: The Department has spent £360,073 on improving Single Living Accommodation at The Royal Citadel in Plymouth, since 2022.There are no Service Family Accommodation (SFA) properties within The Royal Citadel. Service personnel based at The Royal Citadel are allocated SFA in the wider Plymouth area.

AWACS

Mr Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his latest estimate is of the (a) cost and (b) delivery timetable for the E& aircraft.

James Cartlidge: I refer the right hon. Member to the answers I gave on 30 April 2024 to the right hon. Member for Rayleigh and Wickford (Mark Francois), to Question 23416; and on 29 April 2024 to the right hon. Member for Garston and Halewood (Maria Eagle), to Question 23108.Military Aircraft Procurement (docx, 15.4KB)AWACS Procurement (docx, 14.8KB)

Ministry of Defence: Written Questions

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to respond to Question 15576 on Unmanned Air Vehicles, tabled on 26 February 2024 by the Rt hon. Member for Wentworth and Dearne.

James Cartlidge: I responded to the right hon. Member on 10 May 2024.

Department for Business and Trade

Department for Business and Trade: LGBT+ People

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the cost to her Department was of (a) events, (b) activities, (c) merchandise and (d) other costs relating to Pride Month 2023.

Alan Mak: The costs incurred in the Department for Business and Trade for expenditure related to Pride Month 2023 was £750.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

District Heating

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will take steps to bring district heating schemes under the same price protections as the rest of the energy market.

Amanda Solloway: We are introducing regulation from 2025 to appoint Ofgem as the heat network regulator. They will have powers to investigate and intervene on networks where prices for consumers appear to be unfair. Ofgem will consult on pricing regulation later in 2024 and price benchmarking will come into force in 2026.

District Heating

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an estimate of the (a) average annual cost between 31 March 2023 and 31 March 2024 and (b) projected annual cost until 31 March 2025 of (i) electricity and (ii) heating bills for households on communal and district heat networks; and if she will make a comparative assessment of the cost of (A) those customer's bills and (B) the bills of other domestic customers.

Amanda Solloway: No new estimation has been made. I refer the hon Member to the answer I gave to the hon Member for Twickenham (Munira Wilson) on 17 April 2023 to Question UIN 176758.

Boiler Upgrade Scheme: Energy Performance Certificates

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to page 7 of the Boiler Upgrade Scheme Consultation Response, published on 14 March 2024, on what evidential basis her Department removed the requirement to fulfil the recommendations for loft and cavity wall insulation provided on an energy performance certificate for new applicants for the boiler upgrade scheme.

Amanda Solloway: The Government response to the Boiler Upgrade Scheme consultation sets out a summary of the responses to each consultation question. Of the 205 responses to question 2 on whether we should maintain the requirement for a valid EPC with no outstanding recommendations for loft or cavity wall insulation, 95 respondents said ‘yes’, 14 respondents did not answer and 96 respondents said ‘no’ meaning just over 50% agreed with the removal of the requirement. Removing the insulation requirements will reduce barriers to the scheme and support more property owners to move from polluting fossil fuel heating systems to low carbon heating.

Outdoor Advertising: Energy

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will take steps to reduce the energy use of outdoor digital billboards.

Amanda Solloway: Digital billboards and other signage displays are covered under the 2021 Ecodesign Regulations for electronic displays. These regulations set minimum energy performance standards to increase the energy efficiency of products. Additionally, the regulations include provisions for the recycling of these displays at the end of their life, and for the careful use of critical materials. These regulations are subject to post-implementation reviews.

Energy: Debts

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 1 May 2024 to Question 23954 on Energy: Debts, what allowance for servicing consumer debt is permitted by Ofgem in setting the level of the Default Tariff Cap.

Amanda Solloway: Ofgem has announced a one-off price cap adjustment of £28 (equivalent to around £2.33 per month) to be applied between April 2024 and March 2025 for direct debit and standard credit customers. This is intended to enable suppliers to recover reasonable costs as a result of increased levels of bad debt, ensuring the retail energy market remains resilient and suppliers are able to offer consumers an appropriate level of support in managing their debts.